JOHNS CREEK, Ga. - Until winning the PGA Championship, the coolest thing in golf that happened to Keegan Bradley during his amazing rookie season was getting a phone call from Fred Couples in May after he won his first PGA Tour event. But if he doesnt get another phone call from Couples next month, that would be just cold. Bradleys second win of the year moved him up to No. 18 in the Presidents Cup standings, giving him three more tournaments — all of them with US$8-million purses — to try to move into the top 10 and become the first tour rookie to qualify for a U.S. team. If not, Couples makes two captains picks Sept. 26. Except the way Couples is talking, he only has one pick. The other already is set aside for Tiger Woods. "He doesnt have to prove a lot to any captain, I dont think," Couples said at the Memorial, when Woods was in the middle of his three-month break from golf to heal injuries in his left leg. Even when Woods returned to competition two weeks ago at Firestone, Couples again suggested Woods only had to indicate his desire to play for him to be added to the Presidents Cup team. "As far as Im concerned, if he is not in the top 10 ... he will be on our team, no doubt," Couples told The Golf Channel. That would mean Couples is willing to spend a captains pick on a guy who has played two full tournaments since the Masters, breaking par only once in eight rounds. It means he will pick a player who might have competed only once in about three months before the Presidents Cup. Woods is under contract to play in the Australian Open in Sydney on Nov. 10-13, which is one week before the matches at Royal Melbourne. And it will mean taking a guy who not only hasnt won in 21 months, but who has finished within three shots of the lead in just one of his last 19 stroke-play events on the PGA Tour. This wasnt a problem last year for Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin. When it was time to make his four selections, Woods had shown signs of turning his game around with consecutive finishes in the top 15 against two of the strongest PGA Tour fields of the year. Plus, there were no other Americans who had distinguished themselves as logical picks. This year is different. Among those outside the top 10 in the standings going into the final month of qualifying are Rickie Fowler, who won his last four holes to keep alive U.S. hopes in the Ryder Cup last year, and Gary Woodland, a winner this year and an intimidating player in match play with his length. And then theres Bradley. It is not unprecedented for a player to win a major and get left off a Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup team in the same year. Ben Curtis and Shaun Micheel won the last two majors of 2003, and Jack Nicklaus didnt pick either one. Then again, that was their only win of the year. Bradley previously won at the Byron Nelson Championship in May after a sudden-death playoff, and if that wasnt enough to show his resolve, the PGA Championship should have answered any remaining questions. He is plenty long off the tee, saving his best drive for the 16th hole when he was coming off a triple bogey and needed a birdie to turn around his fortunes. His belly putter, although maybe not esthetically pleasing, works for him, especially the way he holed so many important putts. Does Couples really have any other choice but to take Bradley? The standings are based on PGA Tour earnings dating to the 2009 Barclays, with double the money for the current year. Woods, who earned 53 per cent of his points in the four FedEx Cup playoff events at the end of 2009, is No. 28 and likely to fall even farther down the list. The lowest-ranked American ever chosen was Paul Azinger, who was No. 24 in 2000. Bradleys stunning turnaround Sunday at Atlanta Athletic Club — three birdies over his last six holes to go from a five-shot deficit with three holes left to a playoff victory in the final major of the year — illustrate just how much golf has changed. For one thing, American golf is either very deep or very mediocre, which could mean the same thing. The Americans had gone six majors without winning, its longest drought since the Masters began in 1934. And it was ended by a 25-year-old rookie who was No. 108 in the world and playing in his first major. Anyone see that coming? No one has taken over as a dominant force in golf since Woods ran into trouble, first with his health, then his personal life. Three of the top four players in the world ranking have not won a major. Bradley was the seventh straight first-time major champion, the longest streak in the modern configuration of majors that date to 1934. He was the 13th winner in the last 13 majors, the longest stretch without a repeat major winner since it went 15 in a row in the mid-1990s. This is what golf looks like without Woods. It wont look any different just by putting him on the Presidents Cup team. China NFL Jerseys . Either way, theyd like the final result to be better. Russell Westbrook scored 31 points, Kevin Durant added 28 and the Thunder sustained a late Boston rally before beating the Celtics 119-104 on Wednesday night for their 11th straight win at home. Cheap Authentic NFL Jerseys . MacTavish, 53, was head coach of the Oilers for eight seasons from 2000 and 2009, including Edmontons run to the Stanley Cup final in 2006 when they lost in seven games to the Carolina Hurricanes. http://www.cheapchinawholesal... . With a breathtaking closing rush, the smooth-striding colt won the Preakness Stakes by a neck at Pimlico Race Course on a sunny Saturday, a nail-biter of a finish that topped his win two weeks ago in the Kentucky Derby. [url=http://www.cheapchinawholesalenfljerseys.com/]wholesale jerseys . Former captain Mike Richards and former standout Jeff Carter are still playing for the Los Angeles Kings weeks after the Flyers were eliminated in the post-season. The duo will be on the same line when the Kings play Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals Wednesday night in New Jersey. Wholesale China Jerseys . The team announced he will need three months to recover from surgery to repair an injured meniscus. He was hurt in Montreals 24-12 win in Toronto on Sunday. LOS ANGELES -- Lamar Odom surveyed the bank of cameras with a practiced eye, subtly adjusting his impeccable suit and tie before stepping back into the spotlight. This star of hoops and reality TV is right at home in Hollywood, and hes incredibly grateful to be back with his original NBA team. Odom formally joined the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday following a four-team trade last week, vowing to revitalize his career with a once-downtrodden franchise now on the verge of title contention. "Its an opportunity to redeem myself and an opportunity to come home, and you cant pass at that," said Odom, who will wear his old No. 7. "This city has been great to me, and I love being here. ... This is my home. I grew up in New York, and Im a New Yorker to the heart, but Im so grateful to be able to wear these colours and represent the town. Im lucky." Hes also lucky to be out of Dallas, where he was miserable on and off the court last season after the Lakers abruptly traded the two-time champion before the lockout-shortened season. Odom foundered in a 50-game stint with the Mavericks, leading many to wonder whether the emotional big man had lost his passion for basketball. Odom said hes still got it -- and being home can only help this fall when he goes to work down the hallway at Staples Center with Blake Griffin and Chris Paul. "I feel like Im 19 again," said Odom, who will turn 33 shortly after next season begins. "Hopefully I can turn the clock back on the court as well, do whatever I can to help the team win games and erase that last season I had. I wasnt myself. I feel like I can help just by being myself. You all know what type of person I am and what I can bring to a ballclub. The same thing I did when I was winning championships is what Im going to be doing for the Clippers now." Odom was thrilled when the Mavericks engineered a deal to send him back to the Clippers, who drafted him with the fourth overall pick in 1999. The Clippers gave up guard Mo Williams in the deal, but they share Odoms confidence he can regain his form. "There were obviously a lot of questions," Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro said. "But at the end of the conversation, I just felt he was committed and wanted to be back in a Clipper uniform. Thats what I wanted to see. All of the other things in the past are in the past. ... I think youd be hard-pressed to find a guy thats had as much consistent success at his position than Lamar." Except last year: Odom, the NBAs top sixth man for the Lakers in 2010-11, averaged career lows of 6.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and about 20 minutes in 50 games with Dallas before the club gave up on him in March after owner Mark Cuban had seen enough. Odom was also often late for practices and meetings, never giving the impression he was invested in the Mavvs.dddddddddddd Odom realizes his reputation took a hit in the past two years, particularly after he starred in a cable TV reality series with his wife, Khloe Kardashian. "Since last year, doing a TV show, a lot of people questioned my focus on basketball," Odom said. "I never knew I was going to have a hit TV show. I didnt plan it, but my focus to basketball is there." Odom still wont speak directly about what troubled him in Dallas, but he acknowledges the Mavs didnt get his best effort. He demanded a trade from the Lakers after they tried to move him to New Orleans in a three-team deal to land Paul from the NBA-owned Hornets that was rejected by the league. Odom alluded to a difficult relationship with the Lakers even before the deal, and said he doesnt think he made a mistake in demanding to leave the Lakers because he "would have been traded in the middle of the season anyway." "Going into that trade, I was pretty beat up because of some things that happened off the court," Odom added. "Those guys (in Dallas) stuck by me, and I wish them the best, but Im so grateful to be here." The Clippers top brass -- at least whats left of it after general manager Neil Olsheys abrupt departure for Portland last month -- says its character questions about Odom have been answered. Odom might have had a few similar questions about the Clippers, who are working without a GM for now. Personnel decisions are being made by a committee of team President Andy Roeser, director of player personnel Gary Sacks and Del Negro. Olsheys departure still might be a dismaying step back for the franchise that made such progress on its reputation in the past year, but the Clippers still have Griffin, Paul, DeAndre Jordan, Caron Butler and a solid core of young talent for next season. "This is the right place for him to be at the right time," Roeser said. "He wants to win, and thats all he cares about. His willingness to do whatever it takes, regardless of what it means for him individually, is something that will serve us well." And with Paul just one season away from unrestricted free agency, the Clippers know they must build quickly on last seasons impressive effort. Los Angeles finished fifth in the Western Conference and made the playoffs for just the second time in the last 15 years during just its second winning season in two decades. The Clippers also won their first-round series in impressive fashion over Memphis. Odom believes he can play a supporting role in that production -- and maybe even be a star again. "Theres a lot of things I want to make right," he said. "I know what kind of player I am. I just want to get back to that level. I told Coach Im 100 per cent in on whatever he needs and whatever he wants to be done. Ill be his soldier." ' ' '